Barking apparatus



Aug. 7, 1923.

3,4638%? H. GIUETTLER BARKING APPARATUS Filed June 4, 1915 2 Shams-Sheet 1 fwwpm, Mm;

' A YTUR/VEYS Aug 7, 1923; 71,463.88?

- H. GUETTLER BARKING APPARATUS Filed June 4, 1915 2 Shee'ts-Sheet 2 I/VVE/VTOR I 1 2 60577151? K By Patented Aug. 7, i923;

' UNIT N tttt tet nnnnnnr eon'r'rnnn, or nsoANAnA, MICHIGAN, AssIeNon, BY NEsNN ASSIGNMENTS, no menu. MAKING rnocnssns, or oHIcAeo, IIL'INoIs, A conPonAIIoN or 1 InLINoIs. I

nAnKINe APPARATUS.

Application filed June 4!, 1915. Serial N0.-32,M7.

To all whom it may concernw Be it known that T, HERBERT GUETTLER, a subject of Hakon VII, King of Norway, and a resident of the city of Escanaba, Delta County, Michigan (which'is his-post-office address), have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Barking Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following :to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to .make and use the same;

This invention relates to bark removing -machines of the type in which'blocks of wood from which the bark is to be removed are tumbled in a rotating drum in the presence of water. In machines" of this type the lower-portion of the drum extends into a water tank and is usually supported .upon

;rollers or wheels mounted in bearings positioned within the tank underneath the drum.

.These rollers and bearings form obstructions-to the free removal from the tank of the, detachedpieces of bark and furthermore there is a'tendency for the pieces of bark to accumulate'andbecome packed together at these points, thereby preventing free rotation of the'drum. One of the objects of this invention is to so support and rotate -.the drum that the. surface of the tank upon ywhichthe pieces ofbark are received will be unobstructed throughout its entire extent.

Other features of the invention consist in providing adjustable retaining means at the ends vofthe drum for varying the- -amount of wood which may be contained therein. and for varying the angle of By thus regulating the amount. of water, it

will serve as a support for the wood, thereby relieving to agreat extent the pressure exerted by theweight of the wood upon the giecha nism for supportingand rotating the 1 rum. 1

.. In the accompanying drawings, showing an embodiment of the invention,

Figure 1 is a view of the improved barking machine-in side elevation; Fig. 2 is a sectional view on-the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; I Y Y Fig. 3 is a plan view; Fig. 4; is an end elevational view as seen from the right f Fig.1; and

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale.

Referring to the drawings, the embodi-' ment of the invention shown comprises a drum 1, preferably cylindrical and open at both ends and adapted to be rotated in a tank 2 adapted to contain water and having a concave. bottom '3 concentric with the drum. 1

The drum is supported and rotated. by

endless chains 4; which engage rings 5 cip' cumferentially secured to the dhrum and which pass over sprocket wheels 6 and 7 supported upon a suitable frame 8. The

sprocket wheels 6 are secured to independent axles 9 which ,are ,journal'led in take-up,

bearings 10 of any approved type by means of which the slackof any chain may be taken up,-thus insuring that ,the' load will .be evenly distributed with respect to the several chains. The sprocket wheels 7 are mounted upon a common shaft 11 journalled in bearings 12 and to this shaft is secured a sprocket, wheel 13 adapted to be driven from a line shaft or other suitable source of power by means of a chain 14. The surfaces of the rings 5 with which the chains 4% engage are smooth in order that the chains may slip thereon if any obstruction should prevent rotation of the drum.

. In order to prevent lateral swinging or upward jumping of the drum duringits rotation, it is provided, adjacent its ends, with guide rings 15 having flanges 16. which engage grooved guide rollers 17 rotatably mounted upon the frame at the sides and top of the drum.

The blocks of wood from which the'bark which they may be removed in any suitable manner. The drum has a plurality of openings 21 formed in its side which are'of such a size that the pieces of detached, bark may pass freely therethrough into the tank without permitting the escape of any of the blocks.

Secured tothe outer surface of the drum are a plurality of paddles or flights 22, preferably perforated, which, as the drum rotates, sweep through the Water in the tank 2 and remove therefrom the pieces of bark which have passed into the tank through the openings 21 in the drum. :1 he pieces of bark which are swept from the bottom-of the tank by the paddles will be discharged through an opening 23 formed in o ne of the side walls of the tank, and may be received in any suitable receptacle such as a drain 24 from which they may be removed and treat- 1 ed as desired to render them suitable for fuel or other industrial purpose.

By supporting the drum upon chains as above described, it is possible to do away with the usual drum supporting rollers which are mounted within the tank, there-' by insuring that the bottom of the tank will be smooth throughout its entire extent and will be free from any obstructions which might interfere with the removal of the bark or the free rotation of the drum.

As the drum rotates, the charge of wood contained therein will be also rotated until its u er surface assumes a certain angle as in lcated in Fig. 2, after which the blocks of wood will tumble downward over one another, and this tumbling of the blocks upon one another, which continues during the rotation of the drum, is suflicient to cause the bark to become detached. The quantity of wood which may be treated, and consequently the angle of inclination which the surface of the charge will assume duringthe operation, depends upon the quality and character of the 'wood. In order that the machine may be adapted to treat different quantities of wood, adjustable means are provided adjacent the. open ends of the drum to vary the wood which may be rethe height of tained within the drum. As shown, the ends of the frame are provided with vertical guideways 25 which are adapted to rece ve transversely extending planks 26, the guldeways being'so positioned that when the planks are positioned thereinthey will register .with the "open ends of the drum and W111 be in close proximity thereto. It will be understood that the level of the'charge' of wood which the drum-will hold will depend upon the number of planks which are placed one upon the other within the guide waylsl. e amount of water within the tank 2 should also be varied in accordance with the guantity'of wood contained within'the drum in order that there may be suflicient water within the tank to keep the wood thoroughly soaked down, without, however, permitting ii; to float. By so' proportioning the amount water within the tank, planks 27 are positioned within the opening 23 which planks extend throughout the length of the opening and are held in place by having their ends engage in suitable guideways 28. These planks form a dam extending upward from the lowerv edge of the opening by means of which the level of the water within the tank may be varied, the height of the dam depending, of course, upon the number of lankswhich are employed.

at I claim is: y

1. In a. bark removing machine, the combination of a rotatable drum adapted to continuously receive blocks of wood at one end and to discharge them at the other end, said drum having bark discharging slots, a tank adapted to contain water wherein the drum may rotate, said tank having a concave bottom which throughout is substantially concentric with the drum, endless chains supporting the drum, and means carried by the drum for continuously removing the bark from the tank as the drum rotates.

2. In a bark removing machine, the combinat-ion of a rotatable drum open from end to end and adapted to continuously receive blocks of wood at one end and to discharge them at the other end, said drum havin submerge t e wood under treatment, said tank being unobstructed from end to end and having a concave bottom which throughout is substantially concentric with the drum, and means carried by the drum for continuously removing the bark from the tank as the drum rotates.

3. In a bark removing machine, the combination of a rotatable drum adapted to continuously receive blocks of wood at one end and to discharge them at the other end, said drum having a plurality of longitudi= nal bark dischargingslots, a tank adapted to contain water wherein the drum may ro-' tatepartly submerged to periodically submerge the wood' under treatment, said tank having a concave bottom substantially concentric with the drum, means supporting said drum from above, means for continuously rotating said drum, and means carried by'thedrum for liftin the bark over the edge of the tank as the cfi'um rotates.

v '4. In a-bark removing machine, the combination of i a rotatable drum adapted to continuously receive blocks of wood at. one

end and to dischargg them atthe other end,

said drum having ensa? stantially concentric with the drum, said tank being unobstructed from end to end,

endless chains supporting and continuously driving the drum, guide rings secured to the outer surface of the drum. rollers engaging the guide rings, and means carried by the drum for continuously' lifting the bark over the edge of the tank as the drum rotates.

5. In a bark removing machine, the combination of a rotatable drum open from end to end and adapted to continuously receive I blocks of wood from which the bark is to be Kill removed. said drum being provided with longitudinal bark releasing slots and a plurality of encircling rings, a shallow tank adapted to contain water wherein the drum may rotate partly submerged. said tank being unobstructed from end'to end and having a concave bottom substantially concentric with the drum on both sides, endless chains engaging the rings and supporting and continuously driving the drum, and means carried by the drum for continuously removing the bark from the tank as the drum rotates.

6. In a bark removing machine, the combination of a rotatable drum adapted to receive blocks of wood. a tank adapted to contain water wherein the drum may rotate, an adjustable dam along one side of said tank to vary the level of the water within the tank and means for lifting the separated bark over said dam.

7. In a bark removing machine, the combination of a rotatable drum adapted to receive blocks of wood at one end and to discharge them at the other, a tank adapted to contain water wherein the drum may rotate, said tank being concentric to said drum, throughout, and having an opening in one of its walls to determine the normal level of the water contained therein, means cowoperating with said opening to vary the level of the water within the tank and means for lifting the bark in said tank and discharging it through said opening.

8. In a. bark-removing machine, the combination of a rotatable drum open from end .to-end, havingbark-discharging slots along .itssides and being adapted to continuously Gib receive through one end the blocks of wood from which the bark is to be removed, and to continuously discharge the clean blocks through the other end, flights in said drum for tumbling the wood, means for continuou sly rotating said drum, a shallow tank adapted to contain water wherein the drum may rotate partly submerged to periodically submerge the wood under tneatment, said tank being concentric with said drum and unobstructed from end to end and having an opening in one of its walls to determine the normal level of the water contained therein, means to close the lower portion of said opening to raise the level of the water which the tank may contain in accordance with the weight and quantity of the we under treatment, so that the wood may be thoroughly soaked without floating, and means for continuously and progressively removing the separated bark from said tank.

9. In a bark removing machine, the combination of a rotatable drum open at both ends and adapted to receive a charge of blocks of wood. a tank adapted to contain water wherein the drum may rotate, adjustable retaining. means adjacent "the ends of the drum and co-operating therewith to vary the amount of the charge which the drum will hold. and adjustable means to vary the level of the water in the tank in accordance with the amount of wood in thed,

whereby for any charge the wood will be properly soaked down but will be prevented from floating. I.

10. In a bark removing machine. the comtill) bination of a rotatable drum adapted to means carried by the drum for continu-' ously removing the bark from the tank as the drum rotates. r

11. In a bark removing machine, the combination of a rotatable drum adapted to continuously receive blocks of wood from which the bark is to be detached, a shallow tank adapted to contain water wherein said drum may rotate, said tank being throughout substantially concentric with said drum and free from bark retaining corners, means for revolubly supporting said drum from outside said tank, a. compartment adjacent to said tank, means for continuously rotating said drum and means for continuously delivering the detached bark over the-edge of said tank into said compartment. 7

In testimony whereof I a my signature. 

